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2020 in Review: Blog Highlights and Top Posts of the Year

Another year has passed, and what a year it’s been. Nobody could have foreseen the kind of year 2020 would be, but we’ve all done our best to adapt and survive these unprecedented circumstances. Like everybody else, I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time searching for toilet paper, struggled with lockdowns and homeschooling, and learned to make masks a fashion accessory. I know we’ve been very fortunate compared to many other families and businesses though, and I’m incredibly grateful that we’ve been able to keep working virtually and that everyone in our bubble remains healthy.

Goodbye, 2020. Hello, 2021!

In the years since This West Coast Mommy first launched in 2013, it has become a comfortable income stream for my family and a much-needed avenue to connect with a community of like-minded moms. My toddler and baby are now in grade 5 and grade 3 respectively, and every day I’m surprised by how much they’ve grown. One thing I never expected was having to homeschool, but necessity is the mother of invention, or so they say, and like everyone else we’ve been figuring it out as we go along.

As my kids have gotten older, our content has been naturally shifting away from cloth diapering, babywearing, and baby item reviews. But don’t worry, I love sharing the knowledge and experience gained from parenting my own kids, and I have no plans to stop being a resource in this area. Besides, getting to share all your birth stories is still one of my favourite aspects of blogging!

Instead we’ve started sharing more posts about parenting topics, children’s books, and family travel. Of course, COVID-19 has put a major crimp in everybody’s travel plans, so this year we focused on exploring our own backyard right here in beautiful British Columbia and sharing nearby kid-friendly activities and destinations.

Some favourite memories this year included camping at Twenty Mile Bay, a family getaway to Kelowna, and exploring kid-friendly attractions in Squamish. If you’re thinking of visiting any of these beautiful destinations, be sure to take a look at our recommendations for fun things to do with your kids while you’re there. We don’t know what 2021 will bring, but I hope that we’ll be able to plan a few more excursions next year, though I expect we’ll still be staying close to home.

This past year, This West Coast Mommy had over 750,000 visits. That’s a big jump from last year, and I am so grateful to all the readers, new and old, who have taken the time to visit. I especially want to thank those of you who come back over and over, hang out with me on Facebook, and have taken the time to get to know me and my family.

At the end of every year, I like to take a look back to see which posts were the most popular, how many people visited, and how our readers find us. If you’re a stats nerd like me or just curious, here are some of the highlights from This West Coast Mommy for 2020.

Top 10 Posts

Our most popular posts this year were a mix of cloth diapering resources (we will definitely continue to write these posts for those of you interested in cloth) and seasonal riddles/knock-knock jokes (these are unexpectedly popular!), two of our most popular recipes, a very personal post about dealing with childhood tics, and a tutorial for DIY gel air freshener. Did you miss any of these? Take a look!

1. 25 Hilarious Halloween Riddles

25 of my favourite groan-worthy Halloween riddles for you and your kids to enjoy!

2. How to Roast Half a Turkey for Thanksgiving

This post jumped almost to the top of our list due to a big spike in views on both Canadian and American Thanksgiving, which makes sense considering many families were keeping celebrations small due to COVID restrictions and probably didn’t need a whole turkey.

How to Roast Half a Turkey for Thanksgiving

3. 50 Best Christmas Knock-Knock Jokes

Knock, knock!
Who’s there?
Noah.
Noah who?
Noah good Christmas joke?

4. 6 Ways to Fold a Prefold Diaper

I like prefold diapers for how versatile they are, how easy it is to get a custom fit with them, and how easy they are to wash up and dry. Because they’re made from natural fibers, they’re great for sensitive skin and allow more airflow to baby’s bum. Prefolds can seem a bit intimidating to some, so I wanted to share some popular ways to fold a prefold and my take on their best uses.

6 Ways to Fold a Prefold Cloth Diaper | In this cloth diaper tutorial, I show you how to fold a prefold diaper 6 different ways, with tips and recommendations for each.

5. All About Using Cloth Baby Wipes

When you cloth diaper, it’s almost inevitable that the question of whether to use cloth wipes will come up too. Eventually most parents will at least consider cloth wipes, for the same reasons that they chose to use cloth diapers in the first place. Cloth wipes are more cost-effective, create less waste in the landfill, and help you avoid the use of irritating soaps and chemicals on your baby’s delicate bottom.

All About Using Cloth Baby Wipes

6. Which Cloth Diaper Inserts, Doublers, or Liners Should I Choose?

So you’ve decided to use cloth diapers. Welcome to the club! You’ve picked up some lovely diapers for your little one’s tushie, and now you’re faced with decisions about which inserts, doublers, or liners you should choose. Wait, what? These terms and all the options can be very confusing for new cloth diapering mamas so I’ve put together this quick primer to help you out.

Which Cloth Diaper Inserts, Doublers, or Liners Should I Choose?

7. 25 Valentine’s Day Riddles

These cute Valentine’s Day riddles are perfect for sharing in classroom valentines!25 Valentine's Day Riddles

8. Honey Garlic Baked Chicken Thighs

This simple chicken thigh recipe is perfect for when you want that traditional sweet and savoury honey garlic taste, without the overly sugary glaze.

9. Childhood Tics: What Happened When We Tried 30 Days Without Electronics

This was my first time talking about tics because until recently I didn’t have Kay’s permission. But now that she’s feeling in control of her body again, she gave the go ahead for me to share her story and the intervention that helped her. She decided that if her story might help another kid like her, she wanted me to write about it.

Childhood Tics: What Happened When We Tried 30 Days Without Electronics

10. How to Make DIY Natural Gel Air Freshener At Home

Remember gel cone air fresheners from when we were kids? I was always fascinated with the way that spongy gel shrank and shriveled up as it diffused its artificial scents and phthalates into the air. This easy DIY project is kinda like that, except this gel air freshener is completely non-toxic and made from food and natural ingredients. It’s even compostable when it’s time to discard it!

How to Make DIY Natural Gel Air Freshener At Home

Traffic Sources

But how are people finding This West Coast Mommy? Here are our top traffic sources for 2020. The list hasn’t changed much from last year. Organic Google searches were still far and away our main source of traffic, bringing in 74% of the visits to the blog. Pinterest and Facebook remained at #2 and #3 respectively. These three were our main referral sources, sending almost 90% of our visitors.

After that came other search engine traffic, then visitors from our RSS. This year, Ecosia.org searches broke into the top 10. If you’ve never heard of them before, Ecosia is a search engine that donates 80% or more of its profits to nonprofit organizations that focus on reforestation and planting trees where they are needed most. Next came referrals from Twitter, and Contestgirl (my favourite giveaway listing site) rounds out the list.

  1. Google
  2. Pinterest
  3. Facebook
  4. Bing
  5. Yahoo
  6. DuckDuckGo
  7. Feedpress/RSS
  8. Ecosia
  9. Twitter
  10. Contestgirl

So there you have it. I can’t say I’m sorry to see this year come to a close, but I want to take this opportunity to thank you for spending another year with us and to wish you a safe and happy new year.

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